A bereaved father blogging for catharsis... and for distraction. Accordingly, you'll see a diverse set of topics and posts here, from the affecting to the analytical to the absurd. Something for everyone, but all, at the core, meeting a personal need.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

TV Trivia Thursday #18

Hello and welcome to today's edition of TV Trivia Thursday. I will try to keep these going every week or two, thought there will definitely be some interruption over the Jewish holidays. A partial theme of this edition is shows of the 50s:

1) Although the character of Little Ricky was famously born the same day as Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's real-life son Desi Jr., Little Ricky's character was portrayed by child actor Keith Thibodeaux rather than by his real-life counterpart. But did Desi Jr. himself ever appear on the show, and if so, when?

2) What I Love Lucy supporting character was, as the show wound down in 1960, targeted to star in two other series, but neither lead role ended up panning out?

3) Which sitcom held the record for most Emmy awards won by a series - 29 in all - for nearly a quarter of a century, and what other show took over that record by earning its 30th a few years ago?

4) And speaking of Emmys, what was the first animated show to win one, way back in pre-Flintstones 1959?

5) On The Honeymooners, where did the Kramdens live, and why was that particular address used?

6) Which of the following classic shows of the 50s was not a spinoff of an earlier radio program?a) I Love Lucyb) The Honeymoonersc) The Adventures of Ozzie and Harrietd) Dragnet

7) What event prompted the beginnings of ABC's late-night news program Nightline?

8) Which of the following phrases was not habitually used by a major network journalist to close his newscasts?a) "That's part of our world tonight"b) "And that's the way it is"c) "Good night and good news"d) "Good night and good luck"

12 Comments:

3) I thought that it was Frasier that now holds the record for most Emmys, but I thought the total was only 27.

5) I do not know the Kramdens' specific address, but did they not live in Queens?

6) Ozzie and Harriet was definitely a radio program prior to coming to television, so the answer is not (c). The Honeymooners was spun off from a recurring bit on Jackie Gleason's variety show, so the answer could be (b), though perhaps there had been a radio presence beforehand? If so, it wasn't with the cast we know from the television program.

7) Providing nightly updates on the hostage crisis in Iran was the original purpose of Nightline.

8) It seems (c) is the only sign-off line not used; I certainly recognize the rest. I can't believe I can't recall the name of the famous, early anchor who used (d) -- slips my mind. Walter Cronkite used (b), and someone current uses (a).

Bonus: Name the person who used to close with: "That's the news and I am out of here!"

Thanks TRN, Clayton, Soccer Dad and Tova. I think I made the questions a bit harder than usual this week, and for that, I guess given the timing, perhaps I should ask mechila (forgiveness)! Anyway, here are the answers:

1) Desi Arnaz Jr., as well his sister Luci Arnaz, made their one-and-only appearance on their parents' show in a crowd scene at the end of the very last episode, "The Ricardos Dedicates a Statue".

2) The answer is William Frawley, who played Fred Mertz throughout the run of I Love Lucy proper and its continuation/successor The Lucy/Desi Comedy Hour, which ended in 1960. A Fred/Ethel spinoff show was planned for that season, but although Frawley wanted to do it, co-star Vivian Vance did not, so it never got off the ground. Meanwhile, Frawley was also originally intended to play the lead in another 1960 launch, My Three Sons. However, when the producers landed Disney's then-top star Fred MacMurray, Frawley was relegated to a supporting role as "Grandpa Bub" - and even there, he was replaced by "Uncle Charley" a couple of years later. That's show biz!

3) The Mary Tyler Moore show, which ran from 1970-1977, held the all-time record with 29 Emmys for nearly 25 years. It was only surpassed in 2002 when Frasier – as correctly guessed by TRN – won it's 30th.

4) I would have guessed "Rocky and Bullwinkle" too, but surprisingly, the first TV cartoon to win an Emmy, specifically for outstanding achievement in children's programming, was "Huckleberry Hound". Though little seen in reruns nowadays, reportedly that was the show that first made Hanna-Barbera a household word, even before their first prime-time offering, The Flintstones, was launched in 1960.

5) The address of the building that Ralph, Alice, Ed and Trixie called home was 358 Chauncy St, Brooklyn NY – chosen simply because that was the actual childhood address of Jackie Gleason! In 1958, in recognition of the popularity of Gleason's lovable, bus driving slob Ralph Kramden, the NY Port Authority actually renamed that neighborhood's bus station "The Jackie Gleason Depot".

6) TRN is correct – b is the correct answer. All three others were popular radio shows in the 1940s and/or early 50s prior to transitioning to the TV screen.

7) TRN got this one as well! Once the hostages were freed, ABC decided to continue Nightline as a more general-purpose news program.

8) TRN is correct - c is the phony signoff here. "That's part of our world tonight" was used by Dan Rather, "And that's the way it is" as TRN stated, by Walter Cronkite, and "Good night and good luck", as Clayton IDed, by Edward R Murrow. But if "Good night and good news" also sounded familiar, that's because it was used by a fictitious news anchor, namely pompous but dimwitted Ted Baxter of The Mary Tyler Moore Show!

Oh, so 30 was not the total number of Emmys Frasier won, but rather the number that once reached was enough to break the previous record, before the show went on to win more Emmys. I didn't think of that.

Huckleberry Hound! Aw.

That is so sweet, that the childhood address of Gleason was used. Ah, in Brooklyn, not Queens.

Thanks to Clayton for confirming that it was the Honeymooners that was not a radio program first.

Oops, I guess Dan Rather isn't exactly "current" any more.

It is interesting, Elie, that Murrow, Cronkite, and Rather were all CBS newsmen.

As for my bonus question, of course Tova is correct; it was Dennis Miller who closed Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update with: "That's the news and I am out of here!"

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